Welcome Sofia!

Our second daughter Sofia Lily arrived late Saturday night. We’re so honored and humbled to receive another wonderful gift, and big sister Isabella already shows she will be a great friend and mentor to her younger sister.

Sofia weighed in at 8lbs 15oz (4060 g) and 21.5 in (54.6 cm).

Thanks everyone for all your help during the past weekend. Fellow parents at St. Martin of Tours, friends, nurses and doctors at Good Samaritan in Los Gatos, we are forever in your debt.

See more pics here.

Week 11: Without My Demons

Here’s a verse/refrain song using mixed harmonic phrase, 3-bar surprise in the refrain line, and a moving bridge type using harmonic sequence in form A1 A2 B A3.

It’s probably my weakest assignment in the entire course. It really is difficult it is to write these kind of songs!

I tried to build the song around James Hillman’s quote “I don’t want the demons taken away because they’re going to take my angels too.”

Title: “Without my demons”

C........................F
It isn't really what you see
C.......................G
No need to reach out to me
C...........Bb.........Eb
There isn't much I can say
C......................F
So darling just let me be, .... on my own
Bb.....................Eb..............D7
Without my demons, the angels would go away


C.........................F
I have got no one else to blame
C.............................G
I played life as it's one big game
C........Bb..................Eb
And when night time turns to day
C.....................F
It's just more of the same, .... but I'm not alone
Bb....................Eb..............G
Without my demons, my angels would go away


Ab........................................Eb
I promised I will change, forever were my words
Gm......................................D  
And now I listen to them, they sound so absurd
...........G
The best I heard


C...........................F
Between the meaning and the need
C.........................G
The squander of my life I lead
C...............Bb.......Eb
There's nothing left but pray
C.....................F
I promise soon I will proceed, .... but I won't
Bb.........Eb..........D7..............G
Without my demons, my angels would fly away

Always trust a John

X.509 security windowLongs is a good store to do basic photo printing. Cheap and reasonably good quality. They seem to understand the business.

They do, however, have a bit to learn about security. Or, perhaps they’ve understood than no-one really cares anyway, so why not present your uploading page with a certificate expired three years ago and issued to “john”?

Week 10: All Alone

Week 10. Only two more two go.

We focused this week on verse/refrain songs, which are quite different from verse/chorus songs. The dynamic of refrain songs makes the audience listen more intently than in a chorus form, and is often considered a more sophisticated form of a song since there is no chorus to sing along with.

I tried to do something different this week, something slower, that would fit a great soaring voice. Slow is a work in progress for me: I always tend to rush my music.

While I’m OK with most of the melody/harmony (albeit with a weak bridge perhaps) I think the lyrics have a few rough spots. I feel the story doesn’t come out right — that she left him and now realizes it’s worse than before.

The song clocks in at 2 minutes, so there is room for some improvement.

Wow, listening to this shaky high singing is kinda cute in an odd way. Yikes.

Title: “All alone”

Verse #1

FM7......CM7...
He never told her
FM7...................CM7..
She never felt he was there
Em7................Dm7..
He would always be somewhere
Em7..............CM7..
She would be all alone

Verse #2

She is happy without him
Free she can do what she wants
She can start her new life
He can be all alone

Bridge

Eb6...................Ab6........
Life should have been so much better
....Gm7............
And richer than before
....Eb6...........Ab6..........
But all you do is writing letters
...G7................C#m
Of love and hope for more

Verse #3

You didn't want to be lonely
Live life on your own
Now you know what happens
Now you'll be all alone

Week 9: It will be alright

A few of you have asked me to finish the Berklee series, so here goes.

Week 9 centered around the Type 2 prechorus song, which differs from Type 1 in two significant ways:

• the verse, prechorus, and chorus are on three different grooves/progressions
• the Type 2 prechorus builds intensity right away

Title: It Will Be Alright

Verse

(N.C.)................Em......
Are you sure that you need it?
......................G.......
Are you sure that you want it?
..........................Bm.....
All the heart ache you're feeling
.....C..............D....
When love turns you down?

(N.C.)................Em......
Are you sure that you found it?
.........................G.......
Are you sure that you'll keep it?
....................Bm.....
All the failures of being
.....C..............D....
When life wears you down?

Prechorus

G.............C................Bm..............D.....
We were never saying that we'd always stay the same
G..............Bm..............C................D.....
Now that we're older should we bow our heads in shame?

Chorus

C.......D.....G......G7
It will be al-right
C..........D.....Bm...........Em...
There will be an-other ray of light
C.......D.....Gm.............Bb......
It will be al-right, just be-lieve it
..Am...............Eb.....
I know that you'll feel it
D.......D7....G....
It will be al-right